Compilation of Migration Regulation 1994 dated 01 July 2021 incorporates the amendments made by Migration Amendment (Subclass 189 Visas) Regulations 2021, Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2021, and Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2021 to reflect the relevant changes. Migration Amendment (Subclass 189 Visas) Regulations 2021 reduces the number of years in which the income threshold must be met, from four to three years for an applicant for a Skilled Independent Subclass 189 visa and also removes the requirement that the income years must be consecutive. However, one of the years must be the most recent income year and the three income years must occur in the five years immediately before the date of visa application. Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2021 makes changes in the citizenship fees for applications received by the Department on or after 01 July 2021 and updates the places and currencies to pay citizenship application fees, including the relevant exchange rates. Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2021increases visa application charges for a number of visas by the forecast consumer price index (CPI), in accordance with the 2017-18 Budget Measure Indexation of visa application charges. It also includes changes to the Business Innovation and Investment Program which increases the visa application charges for most Business Innovation and Investment programs. It also repeals the two streams of Business Talent Permanent Subclass 132 visa and closes the Premium Investor Stream of the Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment Provisional Subclass 188 visa, to new applications, with effect from 01 July 2021. The Compilation is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 11 August 2021 and commenced on 01 July 2021. It is now in force. To access the full compilation, click here.
Compilation of Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 dated 01 July 2021 incorporates the amendments made by Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2021 dated 24 June 2021 [“the Regulations”] to reflect the changes in the citizenship fees for applications received by the Department on or after 01 July 2021 and updates the places and currencies to pay citizenship application fees, including the relevant exchange rates. The Regulations comprise seven schedules, including changes to citizenship fees, payment of citizenship fees in foreign currencies, and relevant application, saving and transitional provisions under Schedules 5, 6 and 7, respectively. The changes include applying nil application fee for evidence of citizenship where it is made as a combined application with citizenship by descent or adoption application, updating eligibility for concessional fees for an application for citizenship by conferral, and updating citizenship application fees. The Regulations also specify the relevant conversion instrument as the Migration (Payment of Visa Application Charges and Fees in Foreign Currencies) Instrument (LIN 21/003) 2021 (No. 2) and places and currencies instrument as the Migration (Places and Currencies for Paying of Fees) Instrument (LIN 21/004) 2021 (No. 2). The Compilation is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 26 July 2021 and commenced on 01 July 2021. To access the full compilation, click here.
Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2021 dated 24 June 2021 [“the Regulations”] amend the Migration Regulations 1994 and the Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 to make changes to the criteria and conditions of Business Innovation and Investment Program and working holiday maker visas. It also changes the citizenship fees for applications received by the Department on or after 01 July 2021. The Regulations comprise seven schedules, including amendments to Business Innovation and Investment Program, Working holiday maker visas, Bridging visa amendments, manner of reporting on arriving overseas passengers and crew members, changes to citizenship fees, payment of citizenship fees in foreign currencies, and relevant application, saving and transitional provisions. Regarding Business Innovation and Investment Program, it also includes revised conditions and number of points for Investor experience qualifications—Investor stream only, financial asset qualifications and business turnover qualifications. The Regulations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 25 June 2021, commenced on 01 July 2021 and are currently in force. To access the full amendment, click here.
Australian Citizenship (Class of Persons Who May Receive a Pledge of Commitment) Amendment (LIN 20/247) Instrument 2020 dated 10 December 2020 [“the Instrument”] amends the Citizenship (LIN 20/084: Class of Persons Who May Receive a Pledge of Commitment) Instrument 2020 dated 12 August 2020 to include Governors of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia in a class of persons who are authorised to receive the Pledge of Commitment. Accordingly, a compilation of Citizenship (LIN 20/084: Class of Persons Who May Receive a Pledge of Commitment) Instrument 2020 dated 23 December 2020 incorporates the changes made by the Instrument which is reflected in Clause 7 of the Schedule 1. The compilation is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 14 Jan 2021 and it commenced on 24 December 2020. Accordingly, the Instrument is now in force. To access the full compilation, click here.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, more than 12,000 people are invited to attend citizenship ceremonies to be held all across Australia on 26 January 2021 and become Australian citizens. The Department is conducting over 430 citizenship ceremonies in a single day and conferring citizenship to nationals of more than 130 countries, following the tradition to more people becoming citizens on Australia Day than the rest of the year.
On 17 September, which is also Australian Citizenship Day, The Hon Alan Tudge MP, the Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Australian Government has announced that the Australian citizenship test will be updated to emphasize more on Australian values in addition to core facts and figures. The Hon Alan Tudge MP said that, “Our Australian values are important. They have helped shape our country and they are the reason why so many people want to become Australian citizens… We are asking those who apply for citizenship to understand our values more deeply before they make the ultimate commitment to our nation” The updated test will include 5 questions on Australian values amongst the 20 multiple-choice questions. In order to pass the test, the applicant will have to correctly answer all 5 of the questions on Australian values, along with scoring a mark of at least 75 per cent overall in the test. The new test is expected to be in effect from 15 November 2020. The Minister has also announced that new applicants for most visas, along with the citizenship applicants will be required to affirm the updated Australian Values Statement (AVS) from 30 October 2020 onwards. However, no changes have been announced to the English language requirements or residency requirements for citizenship.
On 17 September, which is also Australian Citizenship Day, The Hon Alan Tudge MP, the Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Australian Government has announced that the Australian citizenship test will be updated to emphasize more on Australian values in addition to core facts and figures. The Hon Alan Tudge MP said that, “Our Australian values are important. They have helped shape our country and they are the reason why so many people want to become Australian citizens… We are asking those who apply for citizenship to understand our values more deeply before they make the ultimate commitment to our nation” The updated test will include 5 questions on Australian values amongst the 20 multiple-choice questions. In order to pass the test, the applicant will have to correctly answer all 5 of the questions on Australian values, along with scoring a mark of at least 75 per cent overall in the test. The new test is expected to be in effect from 15 November 2020. The Minister has also announced that new applicants for most visas, along with the citizenship applicants will be required to affirm the updated Australian Values Statement (AVS) from 30 October 2020 onwards. However, no changes have been announced to the English language requirements or residency requirements for citizenship.
Citizenship (LIN 20/084: Class of Persons Who May Receive a Pledge of Commitment) Instrument 2020 dated 12 August 2020 [“the Instrument”] provides authorised class of persons who may receive a Pledge of Commitment as a Citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Instrument updates the classes of persons who are able to receive pledge of commitment and accordingly, repeals the Australian Citizenship (LIN 19/066: Persons Who May Receive a Pledge of Commitment) Instrument 2019 dated 03 January 2019. Pledge of commitment is the Australian citizenship pledge that people make at a citizenship ceremony, to accept the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship. The Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 07 September 2020 and as per Section 2 of the Instrument, it commences on the day after it is registered, i.e. 08 September 2020 and accordingly is in effect now. To access the full Instrument, click here.
Federal Government resumes citizenship testing and interviews in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide which were earlier suspended due to restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19 pandemic. With COVID-19 restrictions easing throughout Australia, the Councils are given a go-ahead to resume conducing the citizenship ceremonies in-person in accordance the public gathering limits put in place by the individual States and Territories,in addition to being conducted online. Hon Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs said, “More migrants can now continue to progress towards becoming Australian citizens, joining the record number of people who pledged their allegiance to Australia last year… We acted quickly to ensure citizenship ceremonies continued online when COVID-19 hit and we restarted in-person ceremonies in June.” According to sources, more than 1150 people have attended a citizenship appointment since they resumed in Perth on 06 July 2020.The Government is also expecting to resume appointments in Canberra, Hobart and Darwin throughout August.
According to the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA), more than 5 million people have become Australian citizens since the introduction of concept citizenship in Australia in 1949 vide the erstwhile Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 (Cth). There is no doubt that the idea of citizenship remains ‘fundamental to [one’s] national identity’ as the Department continued to conduct online citizenship ceremonies even while the face-to-face ceremonies were temporarily suspended due to the outbreak of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The Hon Alan Tudge MP, the Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs has recently stated that, “The Morrison Government recognises the importance of Australian citizenship for migrants and for the wider Australia community. Already in 2019-20, more than 157,000 people have been conferred Australia citizenship, up 70% on the same period in 2018-19”. The table below shows the former nationality and the number of people who were conferred Australian citizenship in 2018-19 (01 July 2018 to 30 June 2019). NATIONALITY NO. OF PEOPLE India 28,470 United Kingdom 13,364 Philippines 9,267 China (mainland China only) 7,974 Sri Lanka 4,861 Vietnam 3,501 Pakistan 3,360 Nepal 3,294 Iraq 3,087 South Korea 3,062 Other 47,434 Total 127,674 During this period, the Department conferred citizenship to nationals from at least 200 different countries. If you have any questions or are seeking migration related advice on this issue, Discuss Your Situation with us or call us on (02) 4626 100 to speak to one of our Registered Migration Agents who can help you.
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